Burning Babies

I've got a set of SOSpenders, on loan from the Ohio Div. of Watercraft, which I wear unless it's hot enough to take my shirt off. I definately don't favor making it mandatory to wear them however; if you are not wealthy or fortunate enough to have an inflatable PFD, most options are pretty detrimental to fishing efficiently.

If I remember correctly, Excalibur tungsten weights come with an internal plastic sleeve that must be in place, or the weights will shred your line. Are you using them? I ended up superglueing them in place. Tru Tungsten weights seem better; I've been using them for several trips now with no problems, but I haven't had a bite recently on a Texas rig to really put them to the test, either.

Not too shabby! How many boats were you fishing against?

Sounds like you want it, so buy it. A short overall length seems like it might make sense given your situation. I personally hate pistol grips though; poorer leverage for two handed casting, and very poor leverage for hooksets and fighting fish.

Nice pics. Congrats on the PBs.

Yup, I was just looking into that. Our requirements are a little less than yours, so I'm ordering a boater saftey kit along with the tackle I need for my upcoming trip. Proof of residence isn't an issue; I'm not one to be without eighteen or so forms of ID.

Thanks guys; just making sure I didn't need to do more paperwork before bring my tinny up. I think requiring boater training is perfectly legitimate. There are far too many boaters who don't know the right of way rules, how to use the boat ramp, etc. I've taken several courses, but because I'm grandfathered in in Ohio, I've had no need to keep the paperwork easily locatable.

So reading through that site, I take it that tourists who stay less than 45 days do not need a card, or proof of competency. Is that how others understand it?

I tipped a canoe once while fighting a bass. I basically realized what was happening and rolled out before it flipped completely, leaving all the tackle safely inside. Caught the bass treading water. I'd suggest to anyone to keep their cell phone and camera in Ziploc bags when on the water.

Strike King Premier Pro Models in 3/8 and 3/4 oz are my go-to spinnerbaits. I play around with a lot of different brands though. Nichols are great, and I've done pretty well with BPS Lazer Eye Pro's recently (although I hate the quick change clevis). I've been playing with Revenge (nice compact ultra-heavies), Punisher, and War Eagle as well this year. I don't like the trailer hooks on the Strike King Plus series, but only because I think they're too small. You need to be fishing spinnerbaits with trailers, IMO. They account for probably 1/3 of my spinnerbait bass, and don't substantially increase my fouling. I generally like BPS 2/0 XPS trailers for performance and value, although with some baits, I find I need a long shank hook for the blade to work properly.

That contradicts all advice I've ever read on spooling a spinning reel. Generally, you place the spool on the ground and reel a half-dozen cranks, watching the line. If the line starts to twist a lot, flip the spool over before you continue reeling. Billy Bob is right that it is pretty much impossible to completely eliminate line twist when spooling mono on a spinning reel, and I'd agree with his method of dealing with it.

Yup, the one in my avatar was an inch longer, and heavier built. However, I sampled that one working. It was the nicest bass I've seen in Ohio, and I get to see a lot of them. I got it on an Excalibur Pop'n Image in Shad pattern, with the rear bucktail treble replaced with a feathered one. The fish hit in 10' of water, on a long pause.

Thanks guys. I'm sitting on some of the best public bass water in the state, so hopefully I'll start to see a few more chunks as I get them patterned out a bit more.

Gorgeous color on those fish, man. I wish the bass we catch down hear looked like the ones you guys have. My PB smallmouth came from Wisconsin and had a similar coloration to that one. I really wish I had a pic of that fish.

I'd guess a deep bodied 14"er, around a pound and a half. How long was it?

I basically toss them in a pile on the deck, and they air dry for a day or two until I start to organize for my next trip. I'm not trying to dry them so much as just saving time on the water, but it's a nice side-effect. I use enough rods equipped with different lure types that I don't usually end up with a very big pile anyway; I just pick up a different rod.

I'll have to try that trick with a Senko. Looks like a fantastic trip; great bass.

Well, fishing has gotten a lot tougher down here in the last few weeks. With booming shad populations in most of our lakes combined with intense fishing pressure, most guys are only catching a few bass a trip, with many coming up empty handed. I've really had to experiment to produce bites myself, but one of the few things that's been working for me with some consistency has been an early morning topwater bite. With that in mind, I hit my first spot this morning around 6:20, tossing an Excalibur Pop'n Image around an island in the Portage Lakes. I started at the extended northern point of the island and worked clockwise, mixing in a Booyah Bi-You buzz on occasion. I got my first strike on the southern tip of the island about 10 minutes later; a sharp slap that sounded like maybe a 14 inch fish. I set the hook into some weight, but didn't really know what I had until it turned and headed straight up to the surface. Twenty inches of bass heaved it's huge gut a foot and a half out of the water, crashed down, and ripped drag. It came up again, did a beautiful side-walk, ripped more drag, and then sulked under the boat for a bit. I gradually teased it out and netted it. My digital scale bounced back and forth between 4-15 and 5 lbs even. My previous PBs were two 4.5 lbers, weight on a quality spring scale, so this is easily my best. After a bit of a photo session, back she went. I'll probably get a fiberglass reproduction made of it when I have the cash. Anyway, after that, I worked around the island again with a popper, followed by a few other options. I only had one missed strike to show for it, which was the last action I got all morning (about 4.5 hours total). Still, I can't complain. To give you and idea of the kind of pressure these lakes get, at one point, I was fishing the same point I got that bass off with three other boats. There were boats on almost every piece of offshore structure, all morning.

I think mostly because laying a fish on the ground doesn't put it in a natural context. Outside of when you are actually photographing a fish like that, how often do you see a fish just lying next to a rod? Now, if a guy is holding a fish in a natural position, you get a nice sense of proportion, and the background tells a story as well.

Looks like you're getting your system down. Very nice bass. Most of the summertime 19"ers I've caught have been in the low to mid 3 lb range, but they are usually much thinner than yours. As thick as that fish is, I'd bet it's just under 4.

Usually just a Spider Wire cap and a metal t-shirt, or my scrubs. It's too bad most fishing apparel is so tasteless.

I've found the Mossboss to be one of the worst baits I've ever fished for hookup ratio. I started fishing Snag Proof Tournament Frogs years ago, and have been pretty brand loyal. I've been fishing with Bose Sumo frogs and Snag Proof Wiggle Wogs recently as well. Both the Snagproof and Bose frogs have very good hooking ratios, while I haven't been impressed by the Wiggle Wog (although it has a tremendous, unique action). I've fished River to Sea and Reaction Innovation frogs a little this year as well, but haven't gotten on a good bite with either yet. @ Splashhopper: Are the fish really eating the frog, or just knocking it under the slop? If they're knocking it under the slop, it could be that you are retrieving a too fast and they're having trouble zeroing in, or it could be that they are rejecting it at very close range, and you need to try a different color. If they're really eating it, maybe you're waiting too long; a couple seconds is enough. It's also possible that, again, you're fishing too fast, and their only getting a piece of the frog, like a leg. Try slowing down your retrieve to a two-inch pull every two seconds or so.

I placed an order recently. Great selection of hard-to-find merch, fast shipping, and some of the best prices on the net right now. I'm about to place another order.

I start quickly reeling in any slack in my line as soon as I see a strike. I don't have a ton of experience with topwater smallmouths, but largemouths at least will hang onto a hardbait quite a while once they've committed to smashing it on the surface. I'll usually know in a second or so if they have it. When my rod starts to load up on the fish, I set the hook with a hard pull, rather than a jerk. You definately don't need (or want) to "cross their eyes" with the razor sharp trebles on most topwaters. If there's no fish there after picking up the slack, I'll let it sit a few and then go back to working the bait in, hoping for a second bite.

Paypal is great for buyers. Free, convenient, and all the protections on it these days seem to favor the buyer. Forcing it on sellers kind of sucks for some of us, especially with some of the fairly invasive protections they have started using. Nonetheless, it still seems to be the best game in town for buying and selling specialized items. No idea why someone would refuse to have a credit card these days. They are very good at picking up fraudulent charges, you aren't liable for anything (I'm speaking from experience on both of these), you make money using them (assuming you can manage your funds well enough to avoid carrying a balance), they are convenient, and they build your credit history.